Protecting Civilian Data in Armed Conflicts

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Abstract This chapter addresses one of the most salient yet normatively unresolved issues regarding cyber operations: protecting civilian data during armed conflicts. The chapter illustrates how certain state operations target civilian data in foreign countries, including the United States. The chapter describes the international humanitarian law (IHL) governing cyber operations in armed conflicts. It points out how international law is unclear on whether data qualifies as object, which is essential for the proper application of IHL to cyber operations and describe further inadequacies of existing protections of civilian data. After highlighting current initiatives to address this issue, which do not focus on the role of industry, the chapter presents original ideas on how the industry can make a difference: (1) cooperating in developing alternative methods of achieving strategic cyber effects without harming civilian data; (2) enhancing collaborative cybersecurity efforts related to the protection of key sectors of civilian data; and (3) using economic and social influence to push toward a more protective legal regime.